Water heaters



A. H. SWOYER WATERHEATERS June 6, 1961 Filed Sept. 16, 1959 UnitedAStates Patent 2,987,604 WATER HEATERS Allen H. Swoyer, R.D. #1, Mohnton,Pa. Filed Sept. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 840,363 2 Claims. (Cl. 219-38) Thisinvention relates to water heaters and more par- Iticularly to improvedmulti-stage water heaters which furnish hot water for heating purposesas well as domestic hot water.

While attempts have been made in the past to provide hot water heatersof this general type and their advantages have long been recognized,none of the prior attempts has achieved any appreciable degree ofsuccess and separate heaters for water for heating and domestic purposesare presently in widespread use.

It is believed that the failure of the prior combined units to wincommercial acceptance is due to the inability of the prior units tomaintain a high degree of eiciency for both types of heating servicesand the failure of the prior devices to achieve the degree ofilexibility of operation and control necessary to permit the etlicientsatisfaction of the widely varying demands imposed by the two types ofservice.

It is accordingly the principal purpose and object of the presentinvention to provide improved combined hot water heaters which supplyhot water for heating and domestic purposes with a degree of efficiencyand ilexibility not heretofore obtainable.

It is also an object to provide improved electrically operatedmulti-stage combined hot water heating units which supply water for bothmajor purposes quickly and economically.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide improvedcombined hot water heaters which may be used efficiently andconveniently to supply hot water instantaneously or used with a separatestorage tank if required by the service demands.

It is an additional object of the present invention to providecompletely automatic electrical hot water systems which function withoutchange for summer or winter requirements.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide novelcombined hot water heaters in which the amount of Water required to beheated is substantially below that required in units of comparablecapacity.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide novel packagedcombined hot water heaters which are entirely self-contained and whichmay be readily adapted to existing homes and which may be installed innew homes with a minimum initial cost and reduced operating cost.

It is a more specific object of the present invention to provideimproved combined hot water heaters which comprise a number of similarmajor components which may be easily and quickly removed for inspection,cleaning and repair.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparent as thedescription proceeds in connection with the ,accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIGURE l is a side elevation of a combined hot water heater constructedin accordance with the present invention with parts broken away to showinterior details;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse section taken along line2-2 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2; and

4FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse section taken along line4 4 of FIGURE l.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the

4. combined hot water heater of the present invention comrice prises aplurality of substantially identical stages inclicated generally at 10,12, 14 and 16, each of which is effective to supply hot water fordomestic heating and for general heating purposes. While in the formshown in the drawings, four such stages are employed, the number ofstages can be readily varied to provide the desired overall capacity,since the total capacity of the unit is a direct function of the numberof stages ern-V ployed.

The principal structural element in each of the stages is a cylindricaltube or casing member 18 to one end of which is detachably secured adomestic hot water heating coil assembly indicated generally at Ztl andto the opposite end of which is detachably secured an electric heaterassembly indicated generally at 22. The adjacent tube or casing members18 are supported in vertically aligned spaced relation by cylindricalsupport members 24 and 26 which are welded or brazed at their oppositeends to the casing members 18. Members 24 are solid and provide only asupport function while the members 26 are hollow and provide a path forthe circulation of water between the adjacent stages. The members 24 and26 are alternated so the water Within each of the stages must ow theentire length of that stage before passing to the next adjacent stage.The inlet for water to be heated for general heating purposes iseffected through a fitting 28 brazed or otherwise suitably secured tothe righthand end of the lower surface of the lowermost stage 16, whilethe outlet is provided through a fitting 30 welded or otherwise securedto the upper righthand surface of the uppermost stage 10. The ttings 28and 30 are suitably threaded for connection to the main piping systemnot shown.

Suitably secured by brazing or welding to the opposite ends of each ofthe tube members 18 are attaching flanges 32 and 34. rhe copper cladelectric immersion heating units 22 are provided with ilanges 36 whichare detachably secured to the permanently installed mounting anges 34 bya plurality of cap screws 38 threaded into tapped holes in the mountingflanges after installation of the usual gasket 39. The electric heatingunits 22 which are of conventional construction, are preferably providedwith opposed heater elements 40 and 42 which are of semi-circularconfiguration and extend substantially the entire length of therespective stages in which they are installed. However other type ofcommercial immersion heaters may be used.

The water tube assembly 20 comprises a main adaptor member 43 having aange 44 detachably secured by a plurality of cap screws 46 to the flangemember 32. The adaptor member is provided with a series of throughopenings 48 which extend from the inner surface of the flange member 44into an annular recess Si). Diametrically opposed upper and loweropenings 52 and 54 connect the recess 5t) with the exterior of thedevice. The opening 52 in the assembly 20 associated with the upperstage 1t) leads into the interior of an outlet fitting 56 connected tothe domestic hot water system not shown. The opening 54 in the assembly20 associated with the lowermost stage 16 leads into a iitting 58 whichis adapted to be connected to a water supply source. The openings 52 and54 of the assemblies 20 associated with the intermediate stages 12 and14 are connected to the opposite ends of exible connector assemblies 60which are provided with a flexible section 62 and a detachable connector64.

The ends of U-shaped tubes 66, 67, 68, 69, 70 and 71 are silver solderedor otherwise secured in the openings 48. As best shown in FIGURE 4, theends of the tubes at the U-bend are of arcuate shape to leave thecentral portion of the casing unobstructed from end to end toaccommodate the electric heaters 40 and 42. It will be noted that eachof the tube assemblies has a lower pass below the center of the tubemember 13 and an upper pass above the center of this tube. Horizontalbatiies 72 and 74 are permanently installed in the recess S0 to block owfrom the lower portion of the recess to the upper portion of the recessexcept through the tube assemblies 66-71.

Thus, as water enters the lower part of the recess either from theintermediate tiexible connectors or from the inlet, it necessarily flowssuccessively through the lower passes of the tubes which extendsubstantially the full length of the main casing members 18 and throughthe upper passes of each of the tubes to the portion of the recess 50above the spacers 72 and 74 and exits from the device through the upperopenings 52.

The outer ends of each of the tube adaptors are closed by imperforatecap members 76 detachably secured in place by a plurality of cap screws78. ln accordance with conventional practice gaskets S are compressedbetween the cap members 76 and the adjacent areas of the tube adaptor.Thus the path of the domestic water is entirely separate from the pathfollowed by the Water to be supplied for general heating purposes. Y

Since the heating elements for both systems are entirely electric, itwill be appreciated that the system lends itself readily to automaticcontrol. Such control can be eected with thermostats, aquastats andsimilar equipment which are wholly conventional and thus have beenomitted from the drawings for simplicity. In both systems the waterexits from the device at its point of highest temperature. Thermostatscontrolling the operation of the electric heater assemblies 22 will beso arranged that the heaters will be energized whenever the temperatureof the main hot water supply or the temperature of the domestic hotwater supply falls below a predetermined level. For wintertimeoperation, the unit will function under the control of two independentthermostats whereas for summertime operation only the domestic hot waterthermostat will call for heat and no change need be made in the systemto accommodate it either to winter or summer operation.

Removal of any of the heater elements 22 or the tube assemblies 2% canbe effected readily to permit inspection, replacement or repair withoutaffecting the remainder of the system.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the abovestated objects andadvantages of the invention have been attained by the provision of anovel combined hot Water heater of compact, relatively simple and ruggedconstruction which functions with an eficiency not heretoforeobtainable.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom. the spirit or essential character# istics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not rcstrictive, the sco-pe of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States LettersPatent is:

l. A multi-stage electric heater for heating two separate bodies ofwater comprising a plurality of horizontal stages mounted in parallelspaced relation, each stage comprising a main hollow horizontal casingmember having a bottom water inlet adjacent one end and a top wateroutlet adjacent the opposite end, an electric immersion heaterdetachably secured to one end of said casing member and extendinginternally thereof substantially to the opposite end thereof, a coilunit detachably secured to said opposite end of said casing, each coilunit comprising a header assembly, bales in said header assemblyproviding upper and lower independent chambers therein sealed from theinterior of said casing member, a series of U-shaped coils carried bysaid header assembly and extending substantially the full length of saidcasing and having one leg extending below the horizontal centerline ofsaid casing and in communication with said lower chamber and the otherleg extending above the horizontal centerline of said casing and incommunication with said upper chamber, fluid conduits connecting theupper chamber of one header assembly with the lower chamber of theheader assembly of the next adjacent stage, and a plurality of supportmembers extending between the adjacent ends of adjacent stages,alternate ones of said support members being hollow and in communicationwith the outlet of one stage and the inlet of an adjacent stage.

2. The electric heater according to claim 1 wherein said immersionheaters each comprise `a pair of arcuate heating elements formedconcentrically with the casing member and wherein the reverse bends insaid U-Shaped tubes are bent to extend between said elements and saidcasing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,318,237 Sordi Oct. 7, 1919 1,797,749 Allardice Mar. 24, 1931 2,394,868Morgenier Feb. l2, 1946 2,721,544 Kimberlin Oct. 25, 1955 2,748,249Collerati May 29, 1956 2,783,354 Loebel et al Feb. 26, 1957

